Hello there !
what words should I choose and where do I start ?
should I tell you about me ? or about the way " Sarah's key " made me feel ? or what I think about the novel ? or shall I jump to conclusion and sum it all in one word ? and what word should it be ? an adjective , a noun or an adverb ?
because to tell you the truth , the novel made me feel NEW and it is just indescribable !
Now , I should tell you my story with the holocaust and the interest for WW 2.
as it was stated in the novel , even the french people do not know about what happened in their country. Many others do not care and for sure the young people have not even heard about it.
Despite the fact that the world war 2 happened 44 years before my birth. I found myself dragged into the history of Europe and the holocaust and its sequences.
Being a middle eastern gave me an excuse for NOT KNOWING just like many french and the Tezac family members, I often hear about what Hitler did to the French , the Polish and the Dutch but never been into deep stories and facts till a day when I bought Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky in 2007
and I was mesmerized by its content. It was a mere coincidence but it aroused something within me.
Then one night I watched " the dairy of Anne Frank " and I knew from that moment that my life is going to change dramatically just as Julia Jarmond.
Two months later , I found myself in Amsterdam to visit Anne frank house and when I went to her house I cried a river.
It was hard knowing what happened to those people even If I am not a Jew. It was an instant pain just going into her house and the attic and knowing what suffering those walls have seen and heard.
I bought her diary , I wanted to get something from her house. something would last forever with me , to tell you the truth , that girl made me into Jewish literature and movies.
Since that day , I have been very interested to know , I could not stop searching and reading and watching movies from the people who survived to tell as it was smartly mentioned in the novel.
I read a lot and watched a lot . some of them were
The Boy in The Striped Pajamas
and I am intending to visit United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C and to read Clara's War as well.
what happened to those people made me someone else. I now respect all religions much better than before. I now believe no one should suffer whatever his or her religions is. I now strongly think no one should rule and manage someone's life. No one deserves to suffer that kind of treat and for what?
I know that I wrote too much but the novel made me speak !! after putting down the novel , I said thank you Tatiana !! I secretly wished if It was real , of course ,
I do not wish any harm for Sarah or her brother but the fact that it sounded real , so real to not be true.
from the moment I grabbed the novel to read , I felt connected to it for many reasons :
1- It was set in France and France is a place that I miss every single day. and Paris is like what Audrey Hepburn once said :
" Paris is always a good idea ". Yes , I think the same as her and having Paris as the centre place for most of the events was something I thought of as a good start.
2- Having a protagonist who is Polish since Polish people were the most to suffer from the Nazi , was something of an interest to me.
3- Julia's character is of a resemblance to me. I feel what she felt and If I were in her shoes , I would have gone that far just to say Sorry.
4- The way the novel was written in was so cleaver and entertaining , shifting between Sarah's and Julia's feelings , for a moment , I didn't know which one is more interesting ? and I was SAD when Sara's part stopped and I secretly wished that in a page of two she would start telling again but she didn't :(
it was a page-turner and I couldn't put it down. Even when it was time to sleep, I felt guilty for leaving it aside.
Thank you for making me " live " inside it.
5- the soft real ending literally broke my heart. It brought tears into my eyes as if It was real. I loved Julia and her passion , her ups and downs and her determination and William , his reaction was so real. so touchy.
6- The tiny French details , the american influences, the French in-laws and the american sister. I liked when she said she is always L'americanne
Despite the fact the she has been living in Paris for more than half of her age.
7- The story was neat, well-written , beautifully narrated and what lies beneath was much more stronger because the novel made a difference. I can assure you as I will visit the Veldrome d'hiver one day and I googled it since the first page. So you did it Tatiana ! you made someone who is 27 interested in something happened 44 years before she was born.
8- When I read the bio of the author, I said to myself , she must be talented being English , French , and Russian. Three countries full of all-time GREAT writers.
9- and the fact that my name is Sarah,too.
what I finally can say that I needed to talk about the novel as I believe it is such an art, such a masterpiece and I am honored that I had the chance to read such a good read. I shall watch the movie in a couple of days or weeks just because some stories should be read/ watch more than once.
and for the record , I am Muslim.
